Support for ENDA: Anti-discrimination law's 40-year trip

On Thursday, Boulder's Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat, and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley from Oregon introduced a bill that would bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

With states legalizing gay marriage, and others crafting civil unions laws, it's scandalous that in most states in the country, someone can be fired from their job just for being gay. While that kind of discrimination is illegal in Colorado, it's appalling that it's not yet the law of the land.

The law would exempt religious institutions and companies with fewer than 15 employees. Despite that, the only notable opposition comes from anti-gay groups that claim it violates religious freedom, which is just trope. Everyone is free to practice his own belief system, but the essence of that freedom is that your boss (unless you work for, say, a church) can't force you to follow his own.

The Columbia Journalism Review ran a column on Friday excoriating the mainstream media for failing to cover ENDA's introduction in Congress, despite the ongoing high interest in gay marriage and civil unions nationwide. Perhaps it failed to make a splash because while gay marriage is relatively recent in America, and is being considered by the Supreme Court, this measure has had a long, but rather uneventful 40-year trip.

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The National Gay Taskforce was formed in 1973 to fight governmental discrimination against gays and lesbians. The group convinced U.S. Reps. Bella Abzug and Edward I. Koch, New York Democrats, to introduce the Equality Act of 1974, which would have ended discrimination against unmarried people, women, and gays and lesbians, in housing, employment and public spaces.

While discrimination still exists, official discrimination against gays and lesbians was the only thing that stuck around. That still sticks around. The Equality Act morphed into ENDA, and has been introduced in almost every Congress since 1994.

It's past time to pass this law.

Congress should pass ENDA. Religious freedom is a beautiful thing; ending workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians won't impact it one whit.

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